The Brooklyn building design firm Garrison Architects has developed a full-sized post-disaster housing prototype to secure safe and stable last-minute housing in the wake of natural disasters. This is just one example of their many architectural projects sustainably designed to help in disaster relief scenarios.

The company believes that well designed environments support social cohesion, balance human activity with nature, and intensify our experience of the world around us. Founded on the modernist legacy of design clarity and technical innovation, their work seeks to take advantage of new materials and evolving technologies to meet the challenges of today, including global warming, scarce resources, and rapid development.

Garrison Architects’ approach is pragmatic. They work with the best means available to overcome the constraints of each project. Far from being a limitation, these constraints ground their work in real needs and spur research into innovative building techniques. Collaboration plays a fundamental role in this research. Within their walls, talented professionals and staff combine skills and experience to envision and produce sophisticated architecture. Beyond, they work closely with the world’s most accomplished engineers, artists, planners, technicians and manufacturers to build projects as varied as hurricane resilient beach structures and historic urban plazas.

Whether serving public or private clients, the company designs with an awareness of greater demands. The goal is to create architecture that balances competing cultural and environmental forces, such as globalization and local tradition, ecological harmony and land development, and affordability and demand. Since 1991, Garrison Architects has pursued modular construction to solve the problems of sustainability, affordability and rapid growth. Its strengths are inherent material efficiency, economy of scale and built-in quality control. This has proved a powerful method for making humane, technologically advanced buildings that transcend mere shelter, on the one hand, and pure form or style on the other.

Project Description

Developed for the New York City Office of Emergency Management, Garrison Architects was hired by American Manufactured Structures and Services (AMSS) to design a modular post-disaster housing prototype for displaced city residents in the event of a catastrophic natural or manmade disaster. The multi-story, multi-family units can be deployed in less than 15 hours, in various arrangements calibrated for challenging urban conditions.

The aim is to create a blueprint for post-disaster housing by utilizing the latest construction technology in conjunction with stringent requirements for safety, sustainability, durability, and universal design. The modules are infinitely flexible: they can be deployed in vacant lots, private yards, or public spaces. When needed, the modules are trucked to a site, craned into place, and plugged into utilities.

With 1- and 3-bedroom configurations, every unit features a living area, bathroom, fully equipped kitchen and storage space. Units are built with completely recyclable materials, cork floors, zero formaldehyde, a double-insulated shell, and floor-to-ceiling balcony entry doors with integrated shading to lower solar-heat gain, provide larger windows, and add more habitable space. Units can be equipped with photovoltaic panels, which will not only alleviate pressure on the city grid, but also ensure the units are self-sustaining.

For more information on Garrison Architects and their many disaster relief projects please visit: http://www.garrisonarchitects.com

A video of the construction process of the modular post-disaster housing prototype can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZL3vQXYrw4s